Previously on The Real World: The roommates will be working on a sailboat, giving charter tours. Frankie told her roommates that she has Cystic Fibrosis, a lung disease, but that they shouldn't worry about it. I'm sure she meant to say, "Don't worry about it, as in 'don't give me crap about my smoking, but do worry about it if it provides us with a perfect excuse for quitting our job.'" But I'm getting ahead of myself.

An alarm clock rings at 11:39 AM, and the roommates struggle to wake up. Brad can't figure out how to turn off the alarm clock. Cameran whines that she doesn't want to get up. The roommates shuffle out of bed and grab some breakfast. Cameran sarcastically says that she can't wait to go to work, and that it's the highlight of her day. Cameran interviews that she doesn't like their job, and in fact, she both hates and dreads it.

Jamie tells Robin that they're supposed to be at work at noon. Jamie interviews that every day they have to work, she is stressed out because her roommates make her late. Is there a law that says they all have to go to work together? I don't know how far it is, but couldn't Jamie ride a bike, or walk, or something? By all rights, she should be allowed to take the van so that she gets there on time, but it looks like she's in the minority, so I don't think that would go over too well. Anyway, Jamie prefers to whine about it. Brad drives the van, as Jamie sits in the back and looks miserable. Brad can't find a parking space, and decides that he should just park in one-hour parking and pay the ticket. One of the girls tells Brad that the car will be towed. Frankie sits in the back and looks miserable as well. And it's 12:35 PM, and they were supposed to be at work at noon. Robin says that the whole thing sucks, and Brad laughs that they should just put in their two weeks' notice today. Everyone laughs weakly, and Frankie starts coughing.

The roommates finally arrive at work, forty-five minutes late. Jamie interviews that she's expecting a scolding from Brian, the boss, and that they deserve it, and that she hopes it will motivate her roommates to get there on time. Brian tells the roommates that they need to be on time, and that it's not like they start at 8:00 AM. They start at noon. As someone who, left to my own devices, tends to stay up really late and wake up really late, I kind of resent the implication that people who wake up at noon are inherently lazy. I do my best work after midnight, which means that I frequently sleep until noon, and I'm lucky enough to have a job situation that allows me to do so some days. That said, the problem here is not what time they have to get up. The problem is that they are late. It doesn't matter if you are supposed to be at work at noon or 8:00 AM -- you should be on time, and you should also either go to bed at an appropriate time to make that happen, or suck it up and deal. My brother worked a summer job at a golf course for many years, and he would go out with his friends until 3:00 AM, and still make it to work by 6:00 AM every day. I don't know how he did it, and I think sometimes he was still drunk when he got there, but he never called in sick. I kind of admire that. I am the opposite: I would have come home earlier so that I could get more sleep. Anyway, you get my point.

On the boat, Cameran winds a rope. Cameran interviews that her job is to follow instructions to tighten or loosen the rope as needed. Jacquese asks Frankie to tighten up his rope, and she leans over and cranks a giant handle. It's like the handle to the world's biggest pencil sharpener, but double-sided. The roommates refer to this cranking process as "grinding." Frankie interviews that she thinks that because she has CF, she is winded more easily than the other roommates are. Well, that and the smoking. Frankie adds that she tries to stay away from grinding when she can. Robin and Jamie grind, and Frankie coughs into her hand.